Heels Fade Past Hokies In ACC Semifinals

AP
Published: March 15, 2008

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Tyler Hansbrough hit a fadeaway jumper
off an offensive rebound with 0.8 seconds left to help No. 1 North
Carolina beat Virginia Tech 68-66 on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast
Conference tournament semifinals.
    Hansbrough finished with 26 points and nine rebounds for the
top-seeded Tar Heels (31-2), who trailed almost the entire way
against a team it had routed last month. The Tar Heels advanced to
Sunday’s championship to play the winner between No. 7 Duke and
Clemson.
    A.D. Vassallo scored 17 points to lead the fourth-seeded Hokies
(19-13), who couldn’t get off a shot on their final possession and
watched a possible NCAA tournament bid-clinching win painfully slip
away.
    The Tar Heels rallied from an eight-point deficit in the second
half before getting the ball with 21 seconds left in a tie game. Ty
Lawson drove in for a runner that bounced off the rim, but
Hansbrough chased down the rebound and launched a quick 15-footer
from the right side that swished through the net.
    As soon as the ball went in, Hansbrough ran downcourt pumping
his fists in celebration. Vassallo, meanwhile, walked slowly back
to midcourt with his jersey pulled up over his face as the Hokies
called a timeout.
    Virginia Tech had one more chance, but Deon Thompson batted
Malcolm Delaney’s inbounds pass from the baseline as the clock
expired.
    Wayne Ellington had 15 points, including a pair of key
3-pointers and two free throws in the final 3 1/2 minutes for North
Carolina, which survived despite shooting just 40 percent against
Virginia Tech’s tough defense.
    It was a completely different game than the last matchup, which
the Tar Heels won 92-53 in Chapel Hill. In that game, North
Carolina held Virginia Tech to 26 percent shooting, took a 54-24
rebounding advantage and led by as many as 47 points.
    This time, the Hokies led by eight points in the first half
before heading to the locker room tied, then pushed ahead again by
eight with about 13 minutes left. But North Carolina, playing
catch-up the entire second half, rallied to tie it at 59 on
Ellington’s 3 with 3:11 left.
    From there, the teams went back and forth over the final
minutes, with Delaney and Ellington trading 3-pointers before
Ellington went 2-for-3 from the line to give North Carolina a 66-64
lead with 1:28 left.
    Vassallo hit two free throws to tie it on the next possession,
and the Hokies had a chance to go ahead after Hank Thorns stripped
Danny Green to get the ball back in the final minute. But J.T.
Thompson missed a baseline jumper and Hansbrough got the rebound,
setting up his final shot.